Voiced velar nasal

A voiced velar nasal, also known as eng, engma, or agma (from Greek ἆγμα âgma 'fragment'), is a type of consonantal sound used in some spoken languages. It is the sound of ng in English sing as well as n before velar consonants as in English and ink.

IPA number119

Entity (decimal)ŋ

Unicode (hex)U+014B

X-SAMPAN

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Voiced velar nasal

ŋ

IPA number 119

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Entity (decimal) ŋ

Unicode (hex) U+014B

X-SAMPA N

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The symbol in the International Phonetic Alphabet that represents this sound is ⟨ŋ⟩. The IPA symbol ⟨ŋ⟩ is similar to ⟨ɳ⟩, the symbol for the retroflex nasal, which has a rightward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the right stem, and to ⟨ɲ⟩, the symbol for the palatal nasal, which has a leftward-pointing hook extending from the bottom of the left stem.

While almost all languages have /m/ and /n/ as phonemes, /ŋ/ is rarer.^[1] Half of the 469 languages surveyed in Anderson (2008) had a velar nasal phoneme; as a further curiosity, many of them limit its occurrence to the syllable coda. The velar nasal does not occur in many of the languages of the Americas, the Middle East, or the Caucasus, but it is extremely common among Australian Aboriginal languages, languages of Sub-Saharan Africa, East Asian and Southeast Asian languages, and Polynesian languages. The Láá Láá Bwamu language is one of the few languages that has the sound as its only nasal consonant.^[2] In many languages that do not have the velar nasal as a phoneme, such as most of the Romance languages, it occurs as an allophone of /n/ before velar consonants. This kind of assimilation can even be found in languages with phonemic voiced velar nasals, such as English. An example of this phenomenon is the word income; its underlying representation, /ˈɪnˌkʌm/, can be realized as either [ˈɪnˌkʌm] or [ˈɪŋˌkʌm].

An example of a language that lacks a phonemic or allophonic velar nasal is Russian, in which /n/ is pronounced as laminal denti-alveolar [n̪] even before velar consonants.^[3]

Some languages have a pre-velar nasal,^[4] which is articulated slightly more front compared with the place of articulation of the prototypical velar nasal, though not as front as the prototypical palatal nasal - see that article for more information.

Conversely, some languages have a post-velar nasal,^[5] which is articulated slightly behind the place of articulation of a prototypical velar nasal, though not as back as the prototypical uvular nasal.

Features

Features of a voiced velar nasal:

Its manner of articulation is occlusive, which means it is produced by obstructing airflow in the vocal tract. Because the consonant is also nasal, the blocked airflow is redirected through the nose.
Its place of articulation is velar, which means it is articulated with the back of the tongue (the dorsum) at the soft palate.
Its phonation is voiced, which means the vocal cords vibrate during the articulation.
It is a nasal consonant, which means air is exclusively allowed to escape through the nose for nasal stops; otherwise, in addition to through the mouth.
It is a median consonant, which means it is produced by directing the airstream down the midline of the tongue, rather than to the sides.
Its airstream mechanism is pulmonic, which means it is articulated by pushing air only with the intercostal muscles and abdominal muscles, as in most sounds.

Occurrence

More information Language, Word ...

Language		Word	IPA	Meaning	Notes
Albanian		ngaqë	[ŋɡacə]	'because'
Aleut^[6]		chaang / ча̄ӈ	[tʃɑːŋ]	'five'
Arabic	Hejazi ^{[citation needed]}	مــنــقل / mingal	[mɪŋɡal]	'brazier'	Allophone of /n/ before velar stops. See Hejazi Arabic phonology
Armenian	Eastern^[7]	ընկեր / ënker	[əŋˈkɛɾ]	'friend'	Allophone of /n/ before velar consonants
Assamese		ৰং / ŗông	[ɹɔŋ]	'color'
Asturian		non	[nõŋ]	'no'	Allophone of /n/ in word-final position, either before consonants other than velar stops or vowel-beginning words or before a pause.
Bambara		ŋonI	[ŋoni]	'guitar'
Bashkir		мең / meñ / مىُڭ	[mɪ̞ŋ]^ⓘ	'one thousand'
Basque		hanka	[haŋka]	'leg'
Bengali		রঙ / rông	[ɾɔŋ]	'color'
Bulgarian^[8]		тънко / tănko	[ˈtɤŋko]	'thin'
Burmese		ငရုတ်	[ŋə joʊʔ]	'chilli'
Cantonese		昂 / ngòhng	[ŋɔːŋ˩]	'raise'	See Cantonese phonology
Catalan^[9]		sang	[ˈsaŋ(k)]	'blood'	See Catalan phonology
Cebuano		ngano	[ˈŋano]	'why'
Chamorro		ngånga'	[ŋɑŋaʔ]	'duck'
Chukchi		ӈыроӄ / ṇyroq	[ŋəɹoq]	'three'
Czech		tank	[taŋk]	'tank'	See Czech phonology
Dinka		ŋa	[ŋa]	'who'
Danish		sang	[sɑŋˀ]	'song'	See Danish phonology
Dutch^[10]		angst	[ɑŋst]	'fear'	See Dutch phonology
Eastern Min		疑 / ngì	[ŋi⁵³]	'suspect'
English		sing	[sɪŋ]^ⓘ	'sing'	Restricted to the syllable coda. See English phonology
Faroese		ong	[ɔŋk]	'meadow'
Fijian		gone	[ˈŋone]	'child'
Finnish		kangas	[ˈkɑŋːɑs]	'cloth'	Occurs in native vocabulary only intervocally (as a geminate) and before /k/. See Finnish phonology
French^[11]	Standard	camping	[kɑ̃piŋ(ɡ)]^ⓘ	'camping'	Occurs only in words borrowed from English or Chinese. See French phonology
French^[11]	Southern France	pain	[pɛŋ]^ⓘ	'bread'	For many speakers, [ŋ] acts as a substitute for the nasalization of the preceding vowel, which may still be partially nasal. It is one of the most typical traits of varieties of French influenced by an Occitan substrate.
Galician		unha	[ˈuŋa]^ⓘ	'one' (f.)
Gan		牙 / nga	[ŋa]	'tooth'
German		lang	[laŋ]	'long'	See Standard German phonology
Georgian		ანგარება / angareba	[äŋgäɾe̞bä]	'egoism/greed'	Allophone of /n/ before /k/ and /g/ in colloquial or fast speech.
Greek		άγχος / anchos	['aŋxo̞s]	'Stress'	See Modern Greek phonology
Hakka	Sixian	我 / ngai	[ŋai˨˦]	'I'
Hebrew	Standard	אנגלית / anglit	[aŋɡˈlit]	'English language'	Allophone of /n/ before velar stops. See Modern Hebrew phonology
Hebrew	Sephardi	עין / nayin	[ŋaˈjin]	'Ayin'	See Sephardi Hebrew
Hiligaynon		buang	[bu'äŋ]	'crazy/mentally unstable'
Hindustani	Hindi	रंग / रङ्ग / raṅg	[rəŋg]	'color'	See Hindustani phonology
	Urdu	رن٘گ / raṅg
	Fiji Hindustani	Rang
Ho		maraṅ	[maraŋ]	'big'
Hungarian		ing	[iŋɡ]	'shirt'	Allophone of /n/ before /g/. See Hungarian phonology
Icelandic		göng	[ˈkœy̯ŋk]	'tunnel'	See Icelandic phonology
Ilocano		ngalngal	[ŋalŋal]	'to chew'
Inuktitut		ᐴᙳᐆᖅ / puunnguuq	[puːŋŋuːq]	'dog'
Inuvialuktun		qamnguiyuaq	[qamŋuijuaq]	'snores'
Irish		a nglór	[ˌə̃ ˈŋl̪ˠoːɾˠ]	'their voice'	Occurs word-initially as a result of the consonantal mutation eclipsis. See Irish phonology
Italian^[12]		anche	[ˈaŋke]	'also'	Allophone of /n/ before /k/ and /ɡ/. See Italian phonology
Itelmen		қниң	[qniŋ]	'one'
Japanese	Standard	南極 / nankyoku	[naŋkʲokɯ]	'the South Pole'	See Japanese phonology
Japanese	Eastern dialects^[13]	鍵 / kagi	[kaŋi]	'key'	See Japanese phonology
Javanese		sengak	[səŋak]	stink	Additional /ŋ/ caused by vowel after /ŋ/ sounding
Jin	Yuci	我 / ngie	[ŋie]	'I'
Kagayanen^[14]		manang	[manaŋ]	'older sister'
Karelian^[15]		ongi	[ˈoŋɡi]	'fishing rod'	Occurs only before /g/, /k/ and /kk/.
Karen	Eastern Pwo	ငယ်ငဝ်	[ŋɛ̀ ŋɔ̀]	'enter into a heated argument'
Karen	Western Pwo	ငါငီၩငါစၪ	[ŋâ ŋɔ́ ŋâ sà]	'stupid; not very intelligent'
Kazakh		мың / myń / مىڭ	[məŋ]	'thousand'
Kyrgyz		миң / miñ / مئڭ	[miŋ]	'thousand'
Ket		аяң / ajaņ	[ajaŋ]	'to damn'
Kharia^[16]		लअङ	[lǎŋ]	'tongue'	A pervasive rising tone related to stress is found in monosyllabic stems. See Anderson (2014) for discussion.
Khasi		ngap	[ŋap]	'honey'
Khmer		ងាយ / ngéay កសាង / kâsang	[ŋiəj] [kɑːsaːŋ]	'easy' 'to build'	See Khmer phonology
Korean		성에 / seonge	[sʌŋe]	'window frost'	See Korean phonology
Kurdish	Northern	ceng / جه‌نگ	[dʒɛŋ]	'war'	See Kurdish phonology
	Central	جه‌نگ / ceng
	Southern	جه‌نگ / ceng
Luganda		ŋaaŋa	[ŋɑːŋɑ]	'hornbill'
Luxembourgish^[17]		keng	[kʰæŋ]	'nobody'	See Luxembourgish phonology
Macedonian		aнглиски / angliski	[ˈaŋɡliski]	'English'	Occurs as an allophone of /n/ before /k/ and /ɡ/.^[18]
Malay	Malaysian and Indonesian	bangun / باڠون	[ˈbaŋʊn]	'wake up'
	Kelantan-Pattani	sini	[si.niŋ]	'here'	See Kelantan-Pattani Malay
	Terengganu	ayam	[a.jaŋ]	'chicken'	See Terengganu Malay
Malayalam^[6]		മാങ്ങ / maanga /مٰاۼَ	[maːŋŋɐ]	'mango'	See Malayalam phonology
Mandarin	Standard	北京 / Běijīng	[peɪ˨˩tɕiŋ˥]	'Beijing'	Restricted to the syllable coda. See Mandarin phonology
Mandarin	Sichuanese	我 / ngo³	[ŋɔ˨˩]	'I'
Marathi		रंग / ranga	[rəŋə]	'colour'	See Marathi phonology
Mari		еҥ / eng	[jeŋ]	'human'
Minangkabau		mangarasau	[mäŋäräsäu̯]	'nonsense'
Mongolian		тэнгэр / teŋger	[teŋger]	'sky'
Nepali		नङ / nang	[nʌŋ]	'nail'	See Nepali phonology
Nganasan		ӈаӈ / ngang	[ŋaŋ]	'mouth'
Nivkh		ңамг / ngamg	[ŋamɡ]	'seven'
North Frisian	Mooring	kåchelng	[ˈkɔxəlŋ]	'stove'
Northern Min		外 / ngui	[ŋui]	'outside'
Northern Sámi^[19]	Eastern Finnmark	maŋis	[mɒːŋiːs]	'behind'
Northern Sámi^[19]	Western Finnmark	máŋga	[mɑːŋˑka]	'many'	[ŋ] has merged with [ɲ] in Western Finnmark, except before velar stops.
Norwegian		gang	[ɡɑŋ]	'hallway'	See Norwegian phonology
Odia		ଏବଂ / ebang	[ebɔŋ]	'and'
Okinawan		nkai	[ŋkai]	'to'	Allophone of [n] before velars, before consonants in an onset cluster, and also word-finally in some dialects.
Ottoman Turkish		یڭی / yeŋi	[jeŋi]	'new'
Panjabi	Gurmukhi	ਰੰਗ / rang	[rəŋ]	'color'
Panjabi	Shahmukhi	رنگ / rang	[rəŋ]
Persian	Iranian Persian	رنگ / rang	[ræŋg]		Allophone of /n/ before velar plosives. See Persian phonology
Pipil		nemanha	[nemaŋa]	'later'
Polish^[20]		bank	[bäŋk]	'bank'	Allophone of /n/ before /k, ɡ, x/; post-palatal before /kʲ, ɡʲ/.^[21]^[22] See Polish phonology
Portuguese		manga	[ˈmɐ̃(ŋ)ɡɐ]	'mango'	Occurs occasionally in slow, careful speech, as an allophone of /n/ before /ɡ/ and /k/, when the speaker does not delete the /n/ by fusing it with the preceding vowel.
Occitan	Provençal	vin	[viŋ]	'wine'
Rapanui	hanga	[haŋa]	'bay'	Sometimes written ⟨g⟩ in Rapanui
Romanian	Țara Moților Transylvanian^[23]	câine	['kɨŋi]	'dog'	Allophone of /n/ before /k, g, h/ in Standard Romanian. See Romanian phonology
Samoan		gagana	[ŋaˈŋana]	'language'
Serbo-Croatian^[24]		stanka / станка	[stâːŋka]	'pause'	Allophone of /n/ before /k, ɡ, x/.^[24] See Serbo-Croatian phonology
Seri		comcáac	[koŋˈkaak]	'Seri people'
Shona		n'anga	[ŋaŋɡa]	'traditional healer'
Slovene		tank	[ˈt̪âːŋk]	'tank'
Southern Min	Hokkien	黃 / n̂g	[ŋ̍˨˦]	'yellow'
Southern Min	Teochew	黃 / ng⁵	[ŋ̍⁵⁵]	'yellow'
Spanish^[25]	All dialects	domingo	[d̪o̞ˈmĩŋɡo̞]	'Sunday'	Allophone of /n/ before velar consonants. See Spanish phonology
Spanish^[25]	Galician Spanish, Andalusian, Canarian, Andean, and most Caribbean dialects	alquitrán	[alkiˈtɾaŋ]	'tar'	Allophone of /n/ in word-final position regardless of what follows.
Swahili		ng'ombe / نݝٗومْبٖ	[ŋombɛ]	'cow'
Swedish	Standard	ingenting	[ɪŋɛnˈtʰɪŋ]	'nothing'	See Swedish phonology
Swedish	Southern Västerbotten^[26]	ngiv	[ˈŋiːv]	'knife'
Tagalog		nganga	[ŋɐˈŋa]	'opening one's mouth'
Tamil		இங்கே / in̄gē / يِࢳࢴࣣي	[iŋgeː]	'here'
Telugu		వాఙ్మయం	[ʋaːŋmajam]	'literature'	Allophone of anuswara when followed by velar stop
Tibetan	Standard	ང / nga	[ŋa˩˧]	'I'
Thai		งาน / ngaan	[ŋaːn]	'work'
Nuer - Thok Nath		ŋa	[ŋa]	'who?' or 'Is who?'
Tongan		tangata	[taŋata]	'man'
Tuamotuan		rangi / ragi	[raŋi]	'sky'
Tundra Nenets		ӈэва / ŋəwa	[ŋæewa]	'head'
Tupi		monhang	[mɔɲaŋ]	'to make'	See Tupian phonology
Turkish		yangın	[jɑŋˈɡɯn̟]	'fire'	Allophone of /n/ before /k/ and /g/
Turkmen		müň / مۆنگ	[myŋ]	'thousand'
Tyap		nɡɡwon	[ŋɡʷən]	'child'
Uyghur		مىڭ / ming	[miŋ]	'thousand'
Uzbek		ming / مینگ	[miŋ]	'thousand'
Venetian		man	[maŋ]	'hand'
Vietnamese^[27]		ngà	[ŋaː˨˩]	'ivory'	See Vietnamese phonology
Welsh		rhwng	[r̥ʊŋ]	'between'
West Frisian		kening	[ˈkeːnɪŋ]	'king'
Wu		五 / ng	[ŋ˩˧]	'five'
Xhosa		ing'ang'ane	[iŋaŋaːne]	'hadada ibis'
Xiang		熬 / ngau	[ŋau]	'to boil'
Yi		ꉢ / nga	[ŋa˧]	'I'
Yup'ik		ungungssiq	[uŋuŋssiq]	'animal'
Zapotec	Tilquiapan^[28]	yan	[jaŋ]	'neck'	Word-final allophone of lenis /n/

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References

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Voiced velar nasal

Features

Occurrence

See also

Notes

References

External links

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